Wednesday, May 20

Our ship docked in Skagway early in the morning, and we took a train to the top of the White Pass, paralleling the route used by the thousands of people who hiked into the Yukon in 1897-98, hoping to strike it rich in the Klondike gold rush. The White Pass Railway was established to serve the miners, but by the time it was completed the rush was mostly over. (We learned lots about the history of the areas we visited during the trip, but I won't try to repeat all that here; you can find plenty of books about Alaska, including Jack London's classic fiction, or websurf to places like Skagway's official website for more details.)

We spent about 4 hours going up to the pass (entering Canada in the process) and back again, gazing at stunningly beautiful scenery and watching for wildlife, including bald eagles and black bears, along the way.

Several trains lined up at the dock to take people on various excursions	Looking toward the engine from a viewing platform on the train	Entering one of the short tunnels on the route
An original stretch of track and bridge, no longer in use	Another view of the old trestle's scaffolding	In the distance, the tip of Taiya Inlet, where Skagway is nestled
Toothlike mountain peaks	There's only one set of tracks for most of the route; a few sidings allow one train to pull over so another can pass in the other direction	Cruise ships visible as we draw closer to Skagway